Srinagar: After the Ladakh administration defended the cancellation of land allotted to Sonam Wangchuk’s Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL), the renowned climate activist hit back at the government and the media narrative. “Whenever I raise my voice about injustices in Ladakh the government media machinery gets activated to target me and our institute HIAL’s land lease. Please take the message, don’t kill the messenger,” Wangchuk, founding director of HIAL, posted on X.The administration had cited a “consistent and deliberate pattern of disregard for the law spanning two decades”, and claimed that the allotment automatically lapsed due to unpaid dues and an unexecuted lease deed.In its 136-page affidavit filed before the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh high court, the administration said the allotment had lapsed because HIAL failed to pay the stipulated premium and ground rent and did not execute a lease deed within the prescribed period. It also raised questions about whether the institute had fulfilled the purpose for which the land was allotted.The land was allotted in 2018 for an educational institution “dedicated to sustainable mountain development”.“How can we execute a lease when the government itself tells us it cannot execute one? We applied for the lease deed on May 20, 2018, barely fifteen days after the allotment. We followed up repeatedly. In March 2020 and February 2021, the administration informed us in writing that the lease could not be executed because its new lease policy had not been finalised,” Gitanjali J. Angmo, founding CEO of the institute, told The Wire.Also read: ‘Govt is Alienating Ladakhis’: Sonam Wangchuk Accuses Home Ministry of Going Back on Promises of StatehoodIn February 2021, she said, the administration expressly permitted HIAL to continue construction within the campus. “Now the same administration wants to hold HIAL responsible for the lease not being executed. That is an extraordinary inversion of responsibility,” she said.As for the premium and ground rent, Angmo asked the administration to explain how these were to be assessed and collected while the lease formalities remained unresolved. “We are not claiming exemption from lawful dues. We are asking why an administrative delay is being presented as deliberate non-compliance by HIAL,” Angmo said.The administration’s affidavit mentions the original allotment order, issued on May 5, 2018, but claims was conditional and provided for cancellation in case the lease deed was not executed within a year. According to the administration, the conditions were not fulfilled and the lease consequently lapsed in May 2019.“What kind of administration creates the obstacle, sits on it for years, and then blames the institution that has been pleading with it to remove that very obstacle?” she asked.A document shared by Sonam Wangchuk on X to assert his claim over land on which HIAL has been built; and a news clipping of the Ladakh administration seeking to revoke this claim. The first document is a copy of a letter from the Assistant Commissioner, Leh, to Sonam Wangchuk, founder of the university, saying the execution of the lease deed was in process for HIAL and other institutions as the region transitions to Union Territory status. Angmo approached the court challenging the August 21, 2025 order cancelling the allotment. Her petition maintains that the land was granted for a public-interest educational initiative and that the institute has used it for academic programmes, climate-adaptive construction, community training and public-service activities, with official approval and participation by government authorities. The land in question covers 1,076 kanals and one marla.The administration’s affidavit further argued that there was no proof that a university had been established, which it said was another prerequisite for executing the lease. “Stop insulting the intelligence of the people of Ladakh. We deserve competent governance, not manufactured narratives,” she said.The petition states:“The land was allotted for a public interest establishment of a not-for-profit university dedicated to sustainable mountain development and educational upliftment in Ladakh. The petitioner [HIAL] has continuously used the land for academic programmes, climate-adaptive construction, community training and public service initiatives with official approval and participation of state authorities. Arbitrary cancellation after seven years defeats an ongoing public purpose recognised under Articles 14, 21A, 41, 46, and 51A(h), and is therefore unconstitutional and liable to be set aside.”Angmo called the administration’s approach in HIAL’s case an instance of “abysmal governance” and “bureaucratic absurdity elevated to an art form”.“What makes it worse is the spectacle of these allegations being circulated through the national media while the matter is sub judice,” she said, criticising media outlets carrying just the government’s version of the developments.Also read: Backstory: Decoding Media Repression in Ladakh“For seven years, the administration knew exactly what was happening at HIAL. We wrote [to the authorities] in May 2018, March 2020 and July 2023. The administration responded in March 2020 and February 2021, acknowledging that its own lease policy was pending. The February 2021 letter is particularly revealing. It states that the delay affected other institutions, including government institutions, and explicitly allows HIAL to continue construction,” she said.An official cover letter of a communication from HIAL to the Deputy Commissioner, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, sent in March 2023, seeking execution of the pending lease deed and referring to previous reminder letters sent in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Source: HIAL.“The question is not why HIAL waited seven years. The question is why the administration allowed this situation to continue for seven years and then sought to penalise HIAL for it,” she told The Wire.Angmo explained that HIAL was never meant to be another institution churning out degrees. “We set out to build an institution that could solve real problems, particularly those faced by mountain communities,” she said, adding that the institute has held convocations for over 500 students.HIAL’s work had been recognised internationally and it has built shelters for the Indian Army to help soldiers withstand the extreme conditions of the Himalaya.Angmo said the institute welcomed honest scrutiny by the administration, but not an attempt to “erase years of HIAL’s achievement with a few paragraphs in an affidavit”.Also read: Reason Cited for Wangchuk’s HIAL Lease Cancellation Stems From Govt’s Own Paperwork Delays, Show DocsThe government affidavit also accuses Wangchuk of engaging in “false and provocative propaganda” against the administration, threatening elected representatives and government officers, and mobilising staff and students for agitations.It has also linked the matter to allegations made against Wangchuk in the context of the violence that broke out in Leh on September 24, 2025, during protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule protections for Ladakh. Four people were killed and scores injured during the violence, allegedly in police firing.Angmo said that every time Wangchuk has stood up for the rights of Ladakh, the administration “goes after him” and the institutions he has built. Angmo and Wangchuk are partners. “When they cannot silence the man, they target his work. But time and again, these institutions have stood their ground, and the allegations against them have failed to withstand scrutiny,” she said.In September 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs cancelled the registration of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, following a show-cause notice. Wangchuk was subsequently detained under the National Security Act, 1980, and lodged in Jodhpur jail for several months.The government later revoked the NSA detention order against him. “We have not been shown any substantiated finding that justifies this relentless targeting,” Angmo told The Wire.Citing a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the day of the violence during the Ladakh protests, the government affidavit alleges that Wangchuk incited protesters through his references to the Arab Spring and Gen Z-led protests in Nepal.It says that a mob attacked a political party office and the office of the Chief Executive Councillor in Leh, set buildings on fire, attacked security personnel and torched a police vehicle.According to Angmo, the administration is trying to “drag” Wangchuk’s public statements and the September 2025 events into a land dispute that began in 2018. “What exactly does one have to do with the other? Does the administration’s failure to finalise its lease policy somehow become Sonam’s fault because he speaks up for Ladakh?”Also read: Release Before Judgment: Why Sonam Wangchuk’s Case Still Demands a Supreme Court Answer“This is beginning to look less like governance and more like a witch-hunt. Sonam’s commitment to Ladakh is not a crime, and an educational institution cannot be made to pay the price for his exercising his democratic rights,” she said.Wangchuk, a member of the Leh Apex Body (LAB), one of the organisations leading the campaign are negotiating with the Union government.“We want the court to examine the complete record and protect HIAL from an arbitrary cancellation. We seek the setting aside of the cancellation order and a fair, lawful resolution of the lease, with the administration held to the assurances and correspondence it issued over the years.“If the cancellation is upheld, the consequences will extend far beyond Sonam or me. They will affect the students, educators, workers, community partnerships and years of effort invested in building an institution dedicated to Ladakh’s future,” Angmo said.